Roger Federer: A champion like no other

We humans tend to oversimplify every question we don’t seem to have answers to. The need to know a definitive answer to every question is what makes us rather desperate at times and even though the answer may not be provided, we form our own quickly.

The answer to such a question was ready to be provided in the Wimbledon final on Sunday between Andy Roddick and Roger Federer. Federer returned to the final once again to heal the scars of 2008 final where Rafael Nadal, had beaten him in that epic final to take away the crown he had guarded for 5 years.

Yesterday, Nadal wasn’t there to defend his crown for a knee injury. And Federer was there to take another piece of history with him.

Six months ago, the so called tennis enthusiasts of the world with their pompous and rather sophomoric opinion had written off Roger Federer, and declared that a new direction had dawned upon Men’s tennis which was now headed by Rafael Nadal. The losses in French and in Wimbledon in 2008, and another loss in a grand slam final to Rafael Nadal in 2009 had made them instinctively jump upon the foregone conclusion that Roger Federer’s days were possibly numbered.

That all changed in the French open, this time when Federer lifted the trophy by beating Robin Soderling, a man responsible for ousting his nemesis, Rafael Nadal from the tournament.

The question of who is the greatest of all time in tennis history has driven us to the greatest depths. When Sampras retired from the game, we all probably thought that we had seen the best and there would be none who could have dominated the sport as he did. Now, as Roger Federer wins the 15^th Grand slam in his career, at an age of 27 years which importantly includes grand slams in all surfaces, we have all formed a new opinion.

The Wimbledon final yesterday was written to be one-sided by all the newspapers in England, terming Andy Roddick to be “a career whipping boy” of Federer by one of them. They couldn’t be more wrong. Federer started out struggling with Roddick’s service games, unable to get any openings and himself struggling with many uncharacteristic errors. The gulf became visible when Andy Roddick took the first set on the event of another Federer error. And things seemed almost bleak for him when Roddick led with a 6-2 on the tiebreak in the second set. Some would call it a stroke of luck and some would call it destiny when Andy chose to return a ball which was obviously going out to commit an error which would cost him the set and eventually the match.

Federer, a 5 time Wimbledon Champion, unable to break the Roddick serve took the 3^rd set on a tiebreak. Roddick would level the match at two sets a piece in the 4^th, breaking the Federer serve. And thus began 95 minutes of pulsating tennis.

30 games were played in the final set, where Federer had regained a certain composure and had realized the inevitable that he just had to break the Roddick serve, which he had not done in 4 sets. Even though, the final seemed tense and unnerving, it never seemed that Federer might lose this final to someone whom he had beaten 18 times in 20 meetings. As Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras looked on, Federer stayed with Roddick, and kept on holding serve and hoping for an opening. It finally came when the court had uneven sunshine and shadow, which caused some sort of distraction to Roddick and Federer took it with it came a  piece of his immortality.

Andy Roddick seemed like a rejuvenated man. He has obviously worked hard on training and improving his skills in the net and has worked on the variety of shots. Most importantly he has understood how to use his service as a weapon. I believe that Roddick seemed a better player yesterday and it is definitely a match of what-could-have-beens for him. Even he knew it too, when he couldn’t hide his disappointment at being the runners up.

While watching this final in what seemed to be a match Federer could have easily lost in straight sets, I thought that the answer whether Federer is the greatest tennis player or not can never be answered. The tournaments will continue to exist, and we would expect him to win each tournament. The world would expect him to beat Rafael Nadal in the French, win a Grand slam. The list is endless. And we would still be having a debate whether he is the greatest or not. Such a pursuit doesn’t bring any satisfaction. Even if he is not the greatest, it has been astonishing to watch a player like Roger Federer adorning the sport with his magical play. And even if some kid would beat his records one day, he would still be Roger Federer, a champion like no other.